Roscoe Bard jogged to the landing pad, his utility vest bouncing heavily against his scrawny chest. In his haste to greet the pilot he'd grabbed his jacket but hadn't put it on. The small scout ship—only 30 meters from tip to tail—was only a dragonfly-shaped silhouette against the gargantuan disk of the late evening sun.… Continue reading Tempers and Timers
Tag: Exoplanets
Pipes
The copter drew slow, low-altitude arcs through the thick air around Akkarfor Arco on Rypfe. Heavy storms pummeled the hills to the north but hadn't yet reached here. The copter piloted itself autonomously with only occasional interruptions by Governor Dalen, who would nudge the stick this way or that to point out some mundane feature,… Continue reading Pipes
No Vacation
They were less than a klick from the structure and Yebin was already holding them back. Desh made it ten paces before he realized her footfalls over the soft leaves had ceased behind him, and he turned to find her staring into the sky with her arms in the air like a child who wanted… Continue reading No Vacation
Best-laid Plans
Even through the filters, the air reeked of sulfur. Yellow starlight punched swirling holes through the cloud cover and baked the gases out of the strange crystalized rocks that covered the region—a product of the crash, surely. Tavish watched the ship's entrance from his perch atop a stone column across the steam-filled gorge. Three days… Continue reading Best-laid Plans
Shells on Shaula
Polonium was coming down like snow. Big flakes were torn apart by the little dust devils that ran around causing chaos in the daylight hours. The constant reactions between the radioactive flakes and the atmosphere gave everything a flickering blue glow. It would have been beautiful if it weren't lethal. Kellyn stalked the streets virtually… Continue reading Shells on Shaula
Amethyst
Amethyst, like most planets discovered in the 23rd century, had a name as one-dimensional as it was misleading. There's no quartz here. The first ship to attempt a landing nearly combusted when its hull started oxidizing from the iodine in the atmosphere. That's what gives it its rich violet palette: the iodine vents. Its scorching… Continue reading Amethyst
In Sight of the Spirits
Mukaru reached Spirit Palace late, just as the sky went golden at the hour of sundown. He hopped silently from his uleox—one of the few animals native to this planet, something akin to a camel-elephant hybrid—and let it wander down to a nearby spring to rehydrate while he got his bearings. The spirits would soon… Continue reading In Sight of the Spirits
New Wellspring
The crumpled remains of their dropship, Six Degrees From Earth, stuck out of the swamp water like a series of lightning-split tree trunks. Beyond were the derelict structures of the New Wellspring colony on Kappa Lyrae D. There was no doubt this is where the mayday signal came from, but Cooper and Westhalter didn't see a… Continue reading New Wellspring
Me? Scared?
Cassidy relived himself as he walked to the edge of the shore. The sun was close to drowning beneath the horizon and it skipped its last rays across the liquid methane sea like weather beaten stones. The evening fog was forming. His heavy boots kicked up rust-colored regolith as he dragged his feet. When he… Continue reading Me? Scared?
Caretaker
Caretaker Gravis watched from the observation deck across from docking bay five. The mining cruiser Silverback made final launch preparations in the moss-green light reflected from Atlantis III 450km below. He didn't wait for the launch, instead darkening the viewing glass and shutting off the artificial gravity on this half of the station. All crew were… Continue reading Caretaker
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